The Russian Christ: The Image of Jesus in Russian Literature and Film

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this interdisciplinary course, students will trace the development of Christian theology and culture in Eastern Europe: from the baptism of Rus in 988 to the novels of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and from the liturgical theology of Fr Alexander Schmemman to the arthouse religious cinema of the post-Soviet period. Throughout the course, students will grapple with the "accursed questions" that have long defined Russian religious thought, while also examining the diverse and divergent images of Christ presented by Russia's greatest theologians, artists, philosophers, and writers.